The disclosure relates to virtual reality (“VR”) or augmented reality (“AR”) devices and, in particular, to a headphone-based modular VR/AR platform.
VR and AR systems offer immersive and involving experiences that place a user in new worlds previously unimagined. Present technology is directed to wearable devices, such as goggles or face-mounted devices that can retain cellular phones or other imaging devices to project stereoscopic images viewable by a user wearing the goggles or phone-containing mount.
Generally, a VR or AR device includes some or all of the following subsystems.
First, VR or AR devices include a display subsystem which generally includes one or more display devices mounted near a user's eyes as a face mask or goggles. For example, the OCULUS RIFT® CV1 includes two OLED displays with a combined resolution of 2160×1200 pixels and a 90 Hz refresh rate. Generally, these displays are designed to project VR and/or AR scenes to a user. Adjacent to these displays are adjustable lenses designed to alter the projection of the display devices.
Second, some VR or AR devices include a head tracking subsystem installed in the front portion of the device (i.e., the portion including the screen) designed to monitor the position of a user's head while wearing the VR or AR device. Common head tracking subsystems include accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers. The head tracking subsystem transmits information regarding the position of a user's head (to a tethered or mobile device placed in the VR or AR device) to enable the display to be updated and thus simulate a user “looking around” a three-dimensional VR or AR space.
Third, some VR or AR devices include a positional tracking subsystem designed to monitor the user's position within a three-dimensional space. In general, these systems record the user's position and transmit positional information to enable the display device to update based on the user's calculated position within a three-dimensional space. Various techniques have been implemented for providing positional tracking. In a first implementation, a VR or AR device is equipped with numerous infrared (“IR”) light emitting diodes (“LEDs”). These IR LEDs emit infrared light which is tracked by one or more mounted cameras which translate the movement of the IR LED light to a three-dimensional coordinate representing the user's location (and thus movement) through a three-dimensional space. In a second implementation, a VR or AR device is equipped with numerous photosensors designed to detect light emitted from fixed light projection devices distributed in a space around the user. In this system, the projection devices enable the VR or AR device to detect its orientation using the projection devices as fixed reference points.
While some VR or AR devices including the subsystems discussed above are capable of providing an immersive VR/AR experience, they suffer from numerous deficiencies. Just a few such deficiencies are identified below.
As more functionality needs to be included in such devices they become heavy and cumbersome and thus limited by how much can practicably be incorporated into such an apparatus that is worn on the face of a user. Such limitations as size, weight and battery life significantly impact the quality of experience a user can take away from goggle-based VR or AR experiences.
Current VR or AR devices are highly integrated. That is, the subsystems discussed above are designed to work as a single, monolithic unit. For example, photosensors or IR LEDs are integrated throughout the VR or AR device (e.g., on the outside of the display portion, in the harness, etc.). Thus, if a user wishes to upgrade portions of the VR or AR device, the user is required to replace the entire VR or AR device since the entire device is designed to work as an interdependent whole (like an obsolete cell phone for example). Additionally, current VR or AR devices are limited in functionality based on the components within the VR or AR device itself. Thus, users are limited in functionality that can be performed by the VR or AR devices.
Many current VR or AR devices are primarily designed to enable a user to view and interact with and within a three-dimensional scene. Generally, to generate scenes for use with a VR or AR device, developers are required to generate three-dimensional scenes using external equipment. For example, developers may generate virtual three-dimensional scenes using three-dimensional rendering software or may generate virtual representations of physical spaces using numerous cameras and light sources.
Mobile VR or AR devices (i.e., untethered VR or AR devices) are limited in battery life due to the demands placed on batteries powering the VR or AR device. Tethered VR or AR devices may provide unlimited power via a physical connection, but necessarily limit the mobility of the VR or AR device due to the tether. Conversely, mobile VR or AR devices allow for unrestrained movement of the user, but are necessarily limited in battery life due to the use of limited batteries.